Aussie Cricket | Leg Spin

High Five – SL v Aus, 2nd Test

The result in Galle was more disappointing than the loss in Kandy, no doubt. Maybe Sri Lanka stole the first Test, but the response from the Aussies, was very concerning. The batsmen in particular looked confused, lost, unsure when they lost their wickets, as if no strategy of attack had been settled on in the pre-match.

However, there were periods were the Australian batsmen looked solid and untroubled: Warner, Voges and Marsh in particular. But the feeling that a ball with their name on it wasn’t ever too far away was palpable, and proved to be correct. No Australian batsman faced more than 70 balls in an innings.

Mitch Starc bowled his heart out. He certainly made up for his first Test performance with a career best, 11-94 from both innings. The pitch didn’t offer much assistance, but he used reverse swing where it was available and bowled very admirably in both innings.

Sri Lanka read the pitch best again. While Starc bowled well, only 6% of the Sri Lankan overs were bowled by pace (five of 83). On the other hand, Australia used pace for 48% of its overs.

Mitch Marsh has shown the most application and looks the most likely of the top six batsmen to succeed, but my word, wouldn’t a spin-bowling all-rounder be handy right now? Dilruwan Perera cracked 64 from number eight and got ten wickets for the match, ultimately a match-winning performance. I’ve got one name in mind: It starts with “Gee, I don’t know” and ends with “well, now that you mention it…”*